Uchiwa Iris

One of the uchiwa fans on my Five Fans design is a small iris.  I had intended to work this in a cream silk thread, again using the weaving silks.  This was my first attempt - horrid - what was I doing!  Well I was rushing, that's what, the angles are wrong, the spacing is all over the place and turned out I didn't like the colour either.  Yuk.

Out it came.  I'd taken all my weaving silks with me but no matter which ones I tried I didn't like it.  I still wanted a light colour, cream for preference with maybe a hint of metallic, but nothing I had in my silks quite matched up to what was in my minds eye.

The great thing about doing this type of thing in class is there are always lots of goodies to play with.  Tutors and students bring lots of different things with them so it's great to compare what we have and share ideas.  While discussing options a miko yori thread from Midori was suggested. Rather than the usual twisted metallic, which is two fine metallics twisted together, these are a 3 ply and are a mix of silk and metallic.  There were lots of colours available but I liked the look of the cream and gold one. 

With some padding using the cream weavers silk, this worked beautifully. 

I my most recent designs I've  been trying to limit the number of colours I use in an effort to create a better overall look, so I embroidered the iris leaves using the same green thread as on the ferns. 

Very nice,  I like this a lot now.  Only one change to make, that large leaf looks too 'clunky' as it is so it will be extended up and off the edge of the fan in the Japanese fashion.  A few veins to go in and then this little fan is finished.

The miko yori worked beautifully, one tip, use your largest needle or it'll shred.  You can find the full range of colours on Midori's website here.  I used number 2810.

Still to come, experiments in flat silver.

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